Obstetrics

The 7th annual March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card shows that in 2013, the preterm birth rate fell to its lowest in 17 years-11.5%--meeting Healthy People 2020 goals. That number, however, still earns a “C” grade from the organization, which has set a goal of 9.6% of all live births by 2020.

First-trimester exposure to maternal estradiol may increase risk of thyroid dysfunction in offspring conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF), according to a study in Fertility & Sterility.

A patient handout prepared by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine to aid in understanding of periviable rupture of membranes.

In utero exposure to maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or hyperglycemia may increase risk of childhood adiposity in girls, according to a new study.

From a medical perspective, the care and treatment appeared to be appropriate, and the patient’s cause of death was speculative. However, from a litigation perspective, the perinatologists were fighting an uphill battle.

Pregnancy is risky for women with sickle cell disease. This overview examines concerns for the mother and fetus to help you manage the risks.

A recent population-based study showed a lack of correlation between Joint Commission indicators of elective delivery at 39 weeks’ gestation and cesarean delivery and rates of maternal and neonatal complications in deliveries at New York City hospitals in 2010.

A study of nearly 1.5 million births in the United States shows that while rates of cesarean delivery vary widely from hospital to hospital, identifying the underlying cause with existing data is difficult. The findings underscore a need for collection by hospitals of comprehensive patient data in order to fully understand and optimize use of cesarean delivery.

Adopting and adhering to a low-risk, healthy lifestyle before pregnancy is associated with a low risk of gestational diabetes and could be an effective way to prevent the complication, according to a new study in the BMJ.

Women who become pregnant again within a year of birth or more than 5 years later may be at increased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a recent study.

According to a recent study in Fertility and Sterility, assisted reproductive technology (ART) does not increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children conceived using the technology.

A computerized decision-support guide may help women make more informed choices about prenatal testing, according to results of a randomized trial published in JAMA. The findings, which require validation in other populations, suggest that, were women better educated about the technology, fewer prenatal tests would be done.

An expert commentary on ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 130: Premature Rupture of Membranes.

Using ultrasound data from more than 4000 pregnancies in women in 8 countries, researchers have identified ideal standards of fetal growth and development.

A behavioral program that includes group meetings can help reduce pregnancy weight gain in obese women and the prevalence of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants, according to the results of a study supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The findings, from a randomized clinical trial (RCT), were published in Obesity.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a new report supporting prophylaxis with low-dose aspirin (81 mg/d) after 12 weeks’ gestation in women at high risk of preeclampsia.

In this era of highly regulated medical training, most residency and fellowship programs establish rigorous educational objectives and procedural curricula for their trainees. Guided by the expectations set by ACOG and ABOG, Ob/Gyn training programs rely upon structured didactic sessions and guided reading recommendations to keep their residents in compliance with these benchmarks.

This first installment in a 2-part series summarizes the abilities of 4 commercially available technologies for noninvasive prenatal testing.

Pregnant women experiencing morning sickness may gain relief from Diclectin, a combination of doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine hydrochloride.

Spanning a full weekend, the 2-day course afforded the students the opportunity for 3 hours of hands-on scanning per day.

Codes for reporting complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium are in chapter 15 of ICD-10-CM and begin with the letter O.

Ultrasound-based evaluation is less costly than an endometrial biopsy and also allows for evaluation of the adnexa and bladder.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the number of induced deliveries is on the decline after almost 20 years of increases. The data are taken from the Natality Data File from the National Vital Statistics System and represent births in singleton deliveries, which are the majority of newborns.

Will cell-free DNA testing replace amniocentesis?

“Dosing of oxytocin and timing of level of increase in dose has been the subject of many scientific publications,” noted study coauthor and Contemporary OB/GYN editorial board member Haywood Brown, MD.

The ACP’s Clinical Guideline advising against pelvic examinations for the detection of pathological conditions in asymptomatic, nonpregnant, adult women is unfounded, ill timed, and ill considered.

Women who have a history of pregnancy loss, either miscarriage or stillbirth, may be at greater risk of postmenopausal cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a recent study in The Annals of Family Medicine.

New research by microbiologists at Loyola University suggests that the urinary microbiome in women with urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) may differ from that in women without the condition, which has implications for management of the disease.

A demonstration of trophectoderm biopsy

Blastocyst-stage comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) to select euploid embryos is the key to successful elective single embryo transfer (SET).